Cruxis Curses
by Ikaaro
Summary: How did Kratos meet Anna, how did they fall in love and what obstacles did they face? The Host: A012. The Mission: activate cruxis crystal. Other: identity is not to be known. Congrads, Kratos. You're in for a world of drama. Part one of three.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own ToS. Because if I did, well…. Only Chaney and I would have Yuan, Kratos, and Zelos. Oh I'd take Genis too. But basically, you wouldn't have them and we'd make you pay for writing fanfiction mwuahaha. But only because we're broke.

Now, this is my first ToS fic with an actual plot, so I'll try to keep it close to the storyline… o0. No guarantees though, we're talking about me here.

Lloyd (although confusingly) is seventeen. He's almost eighteen now (in the fic) only because there is no way the journey of regeneration took less than a year .

It was late, probably close to two or three in the morning. The auburn haired man was seated next to Noishe, as always. He assumed that by the light breathing of everyone around the fire that they were asleep, and he finally relaxed. In the middle of nowhere in Tethe'alla – as they were still searching for that _last_ Nebilim item – Kratos had finally advised they take a break from trying to find it. Not only that, but he felt these days weighing on him. Kratos glanced at Lloyd's sleeping form, feeling slightly comforted at the sight of the locket around his son's neck.

_He's more like her than he'll ever be like myself_, Kratos thought, a slight smirk tugging at his lips. "Well, what do you think Noishe?" he asked the arishis quietly. "Quite a bit like Anna, wouldn't you say?"

Noishe growled softly in response, an affectionate sound. Kratos stroked his ears absently, eyes still locked on his son. "I wonder if he remembers her at all outside that photograph…"

Unable to sleep for many years now, Kratos' mind drifted back. His eyes gazed blankly at the crackling fire. Noishe sensed his lack of attention, and forced himself awake. Someone had to watch over the group right?

**18 years, eleven months ago…**

"So…" The cruxis angel skimmed through the documents briefly. "Are you sure… that this will work? She is just a _human_ after all. It may not last."

The Desian general known as Kvar gave a curt nod. "Of course it will work! I've spent years on the Angelus project, and plan to continue it! With the developing magitechnology we could create exspheres stronger than your Cruxis crystals of Kharlan!"

"Do not raise your voice to me again, Kvar," he said coldly, setting the papers down. Pushing back his long blonde hair, he looked at the processing plant. "Nothing is stronger than the crystals of Kharlan, _Kvar_. No matter _what_ you do. I expect full reports at every quarter." Without another word he walked out.

"Yes, Lord Yggdrasill," Kvar agreed through gritted teeth. He looked to the soldiers stationed. "Well! Get back to work, and keep an eye on host body A012!" He turned on his heel angrily and went back to the main computer to further discuss the Angelus Project with Lordess Pronyma.

Meanwhile, back in Welgaia, waited Cruxis angel Kratos Aurion. He was curious as to why Mithos himself would travel all the way to the Asgard ranch to speak with Kvar. It wasn't often Mithos went out of his way to look over matters personally, so obviously there was some matter of importance here.

Kratos busied himself with sword exercises as Yggdrasill returned, although it wasn't very convincing. Mithos had known Kratos for quite some time, and could always tell when his interest was peaked. Kratos sheathed his trusted blade as Mithos approached him. "Lord Yggdrasill," he stated respectfully. He tended not to respond politely and to the point with Kratos if he called him by his first name.

"Well Kratos, I see you haven't changed at all these many years," Yggdrasill began, walking past Kratos. Kratos, despite the nagging intuition not to bother Mithos too far, followed. Yggdrasill knew what Kratos wanted to know, always trying to sound like he didn't care for the inferior race when really he'd rather know it all.

"Well, Kratos, it seems Kvar is reviving the Angelus Project yet again," he continued, folding his arms. "He is still under the notion that there is a possibility of a crystal stronger than those of Derris-Kharlan!" Kratos raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Yggdrasill was a child, no matter how old he became or looked, it seemed. Throwing a fit _again_. He envied Yuan for being elsewhere, in Sylvarant. In a way he also envied Martel for being dead. At least she had a form of finality.

Here he was stuck a lone soldier in this lifeless realm.

"In any case I'll have Pronyma keep an eye on him, she knows him quite well. What do you think, Kratos?"

Kratos shrugged. "Humph. Do what you will; you can always destroy it later should it get out of hand." How he hated the way Yggdrasill said his name, so… mocking. Though they _had been_ old companions, and Kratos forced himself to ignore it.

"Actually…" Yggdrasill turned to look at Kratos, an amused look on his face. "I just had an idea to test out Kvar's theory. You become bored enough up here, _YOU_ can carry it out, too, if you wish." Kratos _was_ interested. Something other than old sword routines, finally!

"So, what is it you'll have me do?" he asked his companion, keeping a straight face.

"Well, we'll wait a month to see the first report. I am curious as to how well these Angelus exspheres function in battle." He turned away, fired up with a new plan on his mission to his world completion. "You'll mask yourself as a mercenary and take it out around Sylvarant, seeing as it is the declining world. Have it fight, anything to make that exsphere experiment work. I want to see what Kvar is up to."

Kratos said nothing for a few moments. "Alright. I suspect you wish me to moniter him, as well as protect him?"

"Yes, but host body A012 is a woman. I don't care for her human name, just arrange for her to trust you. I am going to look into the current chosen's journey." He walked off, leaving Kratos behind to think. He was going to moniter an experiment with exspheres? That was usually beneath the kind of work Kratos prepared for, but it was better than just living up in Welgaia.

_A month, hmm… I'll relearn my bearings around Sylvarant and Tethe'alla then. May as well be accurate in where I'll be taking her_, he thought, musing tirelessly for the remainder of the day. Of course, this would be the equivalent of a day outside of Welgaia and the Derris-Kharlan borders.

_Host body A012… I should pass as a human to her._

- - - - - - -

Come the results, Kratos was dressed in blue traveling clothes, quite a step down from the fancy straps and garments usually adorning him alongside Yggdrasill. Now, the plan had been that Yggdrasill would cause a few disturbances in the Asgard Ranch by removing a few walls. Sure, many of those carrying exspheres also escaped, but it was host body A012 Kratos found and aided.

"Don't fail, Kratos," Yggdrasill threatened.

"Humph." Thus begins the start of the journey……

A012 was a pretty young woman, no older than Kratos' appearance of about 25 years. She had soft brown hair pushed out of her face, with vibrant, tempered eyes and a slim build. Despite the plain garment she wore similar to her other captives, she still retained some beauty around her personage. The exsphere attached to her left hand was a dull red colour, hardly looking like some dangerous-more-powerful-than-Cruxis-Crystal-substance. Kratos noted that like the other host bodies, A012 had no Key Crest equipped.

By the time he found her, she was hiding in a house in Asgard. There were Desians already after her, threatening the burning of the city if she did not leave the abandoned shack. Without so much as a warning, the two Desian warriors were cut down.

Kratos wiped his blade clean on their cloaks before approaching A012. "If you plan on continuing to evade the Desians I suggest you leave before more come to retrieve you," he advised her, sheathing the sword. "What is your name and business with the Desian Army anyhow?"

She smirked, still refusing to leave the run down hut. "Give me your name, soldier, and I shall offer you mine in return." Her arrogance was… unnatural for a woman of her status. "As for my concerns with the Desians… that shall remain my secret."

Something alone the borderline of an amused smile touched Kratos' features. "Kratos. I am a traveling mercenary." No use in saying he wasn't; she'd have to find out eventually.

"Kratos? Okay. I'm Anna. Now as a mercenary, you know your way around the area don't you?" She stepped out of the house cautiously, deciding to trust his blunt nature for his profession.

Kratos merely shrugged. "Well, I know the general areas of Sylvarant, yes. Why? Did you need some information regarding your flee from the Desians?"

"You're quite the intelligent one," she mocked, hands on her hips. "Yes, I want to know how to get to the city of Palmacosta. I hear that there is quite the defense there."

"Along with another human ranch," he snorted. "You think I can't tell by those clothes and the exsphere?" He looked her over, waiting to see her reaction.

Anna's eyes widened momentarily, before she pulled the sleeve of her tattered clothing over her hand. "Shut up!" she hissed. "I don't want to go back there! How can I keep you quiet!" She still had family here in Asgard… perhaps… she could get their help? If only a little?

Kratos shook his head. "I won't leak information, but don't expect me to help you out of here without a sum of money for it." He turned to walk away from the glaring woman. She couldn't trust him to keep her secret!

"Wait!" Anna took a few steps towards him. "Perhaps we can arrange something… come with me will you?" Kratos turned, an eyebrow raised as if interested.

"Alright then. What do you have in mind?"

Anna forced herself to swallow her attitude. "I… I want you to escort me either to Palmacosta, or somewhere where there is no human ranch nearby. Somewhere away from the Desians."

"And you expect to pay for this how?"

Anna bit the comment rising up. "Just come with me," she said through clenched teeth. "I can't talk out in the open." She turned and fled up to the still in-tact village portion of Asgard. Without showing any respect by knocking she walked right into one of the larger homes. "Father! It's me, Anna! I need your help, quick!" A well dressed, older man walked out as she spoke. Before she could explain he pulled her into a warm embrace.

"There is no time Father, I hardly escaped," she told him, somewhat coldly. "This mercenary will take me away from here if we pay him."

The man, obviously her father, looked Kratos over, as if not trusting him. "Anna… is this the wisest decision? Can you trust him?"

Kratos seemed unbothered by the man's words. "I am a mercenary. I am honest with my tasks, though you may not believe it. What gain will I have in throwing her away or back to the Desians? They wouldn't pay for one girl back."

"Father, please! I don't know if anymore will be coming and I must leave as soon as able!" Anna pleaded, her voice growing hard with impatience. "At least traveling with Kratos I won't be dying at the hands of the Desians!" _At least, not as quickly_, she thought, but decided it was in her best interest to keep that from her father.

The old man sat down to think the decision over. He hadn't seen his daughter in years and she wanted to flee from Asgard? With the Desians after her, it made sense but… why with such a suspicious character? "Has he proved anything, Anna?"

It was obvious to Kratos that A012 – no, Anna – was losing her temper. He folded his arms, wondering what her response would be.

"He slew two Desian soldiers that threatened to burn down Asgard!" she detonated. "He knew I was a host body from the ranch and he saved me anyways! In a way he also saved the city! How can you take so much time! Pay him, get me some clothing and supplies and just let me go! I don't want to go back to being a test subject for exsphere mass-production!"

"You should not disregard your father such," Kratos said quietly. "If it is all the same to you, I will await the decision outside." He walked out of the house, sitting on the porch steps. He was rather surprised that Anna was trying to win her point through being aggressive. In his experience it usually seemed more fruitful to negotiate peacefully and intelligently. But she obviously knew her father better than he did, so he would wait for the outcome.

A few crashes of breaking glass and a yelling match later Anna stepped outside. "He… he wants us to spend the night here in Asgard. Will that be safe? No one in the city would tell Desians of my being here, they'll burn the bodies or something on my Father's command… Is that okay with you to wait a night?"

"It affects me not," he replied plainly to her, calmly. "Why is it that I get the sense you are uneasy in Asgard?"

"Huh?" Anna pushed her hair behind her ears. "Oh, I… I just don't want the Desians to take me back. I wouldn't wish that fate on anyone…well… maybe the Desians. But that's just because – "

"Because they inflict it on others," Kratos finished. "Yes, I understand. Alright, we'll spend the night, but by dawn we'd best be clear of this place." He stood up. "I'll see to it that the Desian bodies have been cleared. You are going to make sure we can leave under the cloak of darkness. Make sure your father knows that as well." That said the strange mercenary walked off, leaving Anna with her thoughts.

Once she lost sight of him over the hill in the city, she stood up and returned into the house. Her father had left the room, and she wondered where her stepmother was. Not that Anna knew her very well – she had just come to be married to her father when Anna was taken away. Taking advantage of the small time she had, Anna made it clear to herself that she would bathe and see what she could take on her journey. Not much, of course, but there had to be something in this house that would be of use.

"Anna."

The young woman turned to her father's voice. "Yes, Father?" she asked him, feeling a bit inadequate in her rags from the ranch.

"I will pay him now but I still wish for you to stay the night. I haven't seen you in years. You can leave tomorrow morning."

Anna shook her head. "No. Kratos wants us to leave before sunrise. The Desians will come during the day, they don't think I'd be this intelligent I'm sure." She took the money from her father with uncertainty. "I… I probably won't come back you know."

He nodded, hands clasped behind his back. "I know."

"And… I might change my name, maybe even find a way far from any known places in Sylvarant."

"I acknowledge that."

She began to feel very uncomfortable. "Um, okay… I'm going to go get some clothes now." She began walking to the room that used to be her bedroom.

"That won't be necessary," her father told her in a steady voice, bolting the front door. "Gentlemen… there you go." Anna glanced back with wide eyes.

"Father how could you!" In her room she threw the door shut, pushing her tables up against it. "That should hold for a bit," she muttered, looking around for anything of use. Shoes! Yes, shoes, and a bag! Those were in here somewhere… and still would be if they were left untouched. She found them, buried beneath sheets in her closet. Still holding the money, Anna slipped on the plain black flats, and shoved a few things into a satchel. Comb, the money, and a key from beneath her bed. She slid open the window, before grabbing one last minute object.

Anna let out a startled sound as the door burned away. She jumped out the window, landing awkwardly on her right foot and took off running. It was much easier now that she had footwear.

She pushed people out of the way, tearing across the streets of Asgard. "Kratos!" Stopping a moment to gaze around, she hiked the dress up to her thighs to take longer strides. "Damn it mercenary, where are you!" she called. She stopped to look around once again, finding him walking casually out of an item shop.

"We need to leave now," she told him darkly, pointing to the city gates. "My father just sold me off to the Desians. I've got your pay now get me away from here!" Glancing at the two soldiers making their way over, he nodded.

"So be it then." He took off, expecting her to follow. Which, she did, but at a faster pace than he expected.

"How fast can you run?"

"Faster than this, I'm sure," she informed him, although her ankle hurt a bit. "How far are we going?"

Kratos sped up his pace as she spoke. "Away. Keep up and shut up."

She would have said something to his rude statement, but decided that he knew better. She forced herself to ignore the pain in her ankle to keep with his speed. They hardly cleared the city and ducked into the surrounding trees, when more soldiers came by. Roughly, Kratos grabbed her and sunk beneath the foliage, a hand over her mouth. Anna had no plans of crying out anytime soon anyway, but he obviously thought otherwise.

"Stay quiet if you wish to live," he spoke softly, in almost a low growl. If he hadn't been mister tough and emotionless she probably would have found it a redeeming quality. Tension transformed the minutes to hours, and Anna was becoming fidgety. Kratos held onto her firmly, however, keeping them both hidden beneath the forest cover. Anna sighed and tried to let him know she was uncomfortable. Kratos bent his head slightly so that his lips were almost against her ear.

"Deal with it," he growled again, "They are half elves. They will hear us if we shift."

Anna sighed once more, feeling a bit claustrophobic. The warmth of day and being pressed so close to her body guard was starting to wear away on her, and it was making her cranky. Anna in a good mood could be bad enough, Anna in a cranky mood was just annoying.

The Desians didn't leave until nightfall, strangely, not finding Kratos or Anna. Kratos let her go, to walk on her own as they started to trek towards Luin. They would be going close to the Asgard ranch in that direction, but at least they could spend a night in Luin, and continue on to Izoold and then possibly Palmacosta. Kratos, although hindered by the fact he could not show to anyone his wings or that he could fly, relished this journey in the darkness. Freedom from Yggdrasill's twisted plot of the Lifeless World was almost as rewarding as the thoughts from long ago on the old journey. He looked up, out of his thoughts when Anna tugged on his clothing.

"Kratos, look, I've been awake since the day before yesterday," she started, folding her arms. "I had no time for rest or a change of clothes or anything in Asgard. My own father sold me off to Desians. Can we set up camp? Or, will you at least let me sleep for awhile? Just an hour, and I'll shut up for a couple, I promise."

Kratos couldn't help but smirk at her shutting up comment. "I suppose, then. I wouldn't make a fire, though… not until we are free of the area. Once we come closer to the mountain city, Hima, then we can chance fires and such."

Anna's hair fell over her face. "I understand. Oh well. Really, an hour should keep me going until dawn."

Kratos took a seat on a fallen log – they were traveling by forest to avoid detection. "Then go on. I'll keep watch." Anna nodded, then sat down with her back against a tree. She brought her knees to her chest, and bowed her head. Despite the cool night air she fell asleep almost instantly… Kratos watched her for a few moments before gazing out around. She trusted him already? Well, he truly had no intention of harming her… unless monitoring her exsphere counted. Which, for the moment… it did not seem such an issue.

"The….. Angelus… same," she mumbled in her sleep, tight position slacking. "Same story…again…" Kratos listened to Anna's mumblings until she quieted down several minutes later. He had no idea what she was talking about, and assumed she was just dreaming things because of her fatigue and release from the Desians.

_Almost release_, he reminded himself. _I'm still pretending to work with Yggdrasill, so in a way she is still captive. I won't teach her how to fight; she seems to be the kind who learns and remembers well. It wouldn't suit me well when I handed her back anyway_.

- - - - - - -

"Anna. Let us leave this place. You've had your rest. We continue on now." Despite what she said, Kratos had let her sleep until daybreak. She was a little bit of a problem when waking up, he soon found. At first she brushed him off, and he assumed she did not quite remember her situation. Not wanting to waste anymore time around the Desians, he hauled Anna onto her feet himself and began to walk. She said nothing for the first hours of light, mostly yawning and combing her hair obsessively. Kratos made no comments. He understood she hadn't had these luxuries for a long time, and let it slide… for today. By the time they reached Luin he planned on getting her out of those informing rags and into something a little less conspicuous. His left hand rested on his sword hilt as they walked, as if he suspected something to unsystematically jump out to fight them.

"… you haven't given me an instruction all day. You don't suspect any Desians nearby, even though we're close to the ranch?" Anna inquired as she bit into an apple wolfishly. They were sitting down at noon for a light eat. Kratos didn't quite care to eat, but did anyway. The findings of fruits and vegetation in the forest seemed a little… bland… to him. Perhaps because he was so used to _not_ eating. Once he ate something cooked he was assured taste would return.

Kratos shrugged. "It is more than likely that they will search the mountains for you. Were you born in Asgard?"

Anna nodded as she swallowed. "Yeah, I used to go to the mountains with my parents all the time when I was a little kid. I used to know all the best ways through to the caverns... once we spent a few months traveling through to Palmacosta and back, for my father's business. Would they know that?"

"Your father would."

Anna frowned. "…shut up. I'm trying to think that maybe he'd forget some details about me just to give me a chance here." She tossed her head before finishing off the apple. "Anyway, how much father is Luin? And how big of a city is it? I saw the bridges on the way to the ranch when I was first brought there but I've never actually gotten the opportunity to see it."

"I see. Perhaps it is safer then that we went in the direction of Luin. If the Desians learn of your knowledge of a path to Palmacosta, and with the rumours of a good defense, they may concentrate on that. There are many ways through the Hakonesia Peaks and it could take them days to figure out you've gone the other way."

"You know they probably checked Luin out yesterday, while we were hiding. It seems like they've got the wrong idea about me. Or… maybe the right one. If I didn't get help in Asgard I planned on going to Palmacosta…heheh, I like the way you think Kratos," she told him, voice softer, suiting her light feminine tone. "It's keeping me out of trouble."

Kratos glanced away. "It's what you're paying me for, isn't it?"

"…point taken. You never answered my question, Kratos. How much farther is Luin?"

He rolled his eyes. Now she was speaking again. "A few hours if we pick up our pace. We should get their soon, most likely before sunset."

Anna stood up suddenly, looking determined. "Alright then lets go! I want out of these stupid clothes already and I wanna get away from those slave drivers!" She sat back down abruptly. "Whoa…"

"Don't stand up so fast next time," he replied to her dizzy expression. "Let us continue, then." Anna nodded and stood up, tossing the apple core away. Kratos intended to let her know he was not up for meaningless chatter. He replied to her questions and comments with grunts of "hn" and "humph". Eventually, he hoped, she would just stop conversing altogether.

"I don't like being ignored you know," she pointed out to Kratos, walking beside him. "It's not very nice to ignore a lady."

"Consider yourself what you will, until we change that appearance of yours you can still be considered an exsphere host body." He nodded ahead of him. "One of the bridges to Luin is up ahead."

She squinted and looked in that direction. "I…. don't see a thing. You've got amazing eyes too? Well I guess that's good."

_Twenty minutes later…_

"Oh, hey, I see it now! Come on lets hurry I don't want to stay in these clothes anymore!" She took his sleeve and dragged him behind her towards the village. Kratos pulled away, stopping. Anna turned around to see what his problem was. "Come on… please?"

He simply continued to stare at her in that cold emotionless way Kratos always achieved.

"… okay what is it? Stop staring at me like that!" Anna exclaimed, flustering. "There is nothing wrong with this is there!"

Kratos said nothing, walking at his pace once more. She puffed out her cheeks in annoyance but followed, figuring it was some stupid piece of knowledge he wasn't going to share. On the bridge, and hopefully out of sight from the Asgard Ranch, Anna caved.

"Okay I hate silence even more than being ignored! Talk about something, anything!" she begged him, tints of irritation in her voice. She paused and looked around once in the city. "Wow this place is a lot nicer looking than Asgard…"

"There is a wanted poster up for you. What kind of exsphere do you have?" He already knew, but desired the knowledge of the fact that she might not know.

Anna raised her eyebrows. "A special kind they were calling it. Trying to breed a Cruxis crystal whatchamacallit in my body, but the Angelus Project hasn't been going the way Kvar wanted it to. Apparently the exsphere is still dormant," she explained. "So if there is a poster of me don't you think we should take it down and get me a new look?"

Kratos was folding the poster as she spoke – this was a quiet city and nobody was around to see it. "Yes. There is a tailor in the main part of the city, let us go there." He turned and handed Anna the paper. "Keep that in your satchel for now. We may need to use that information elsewhere." She nodded, and followed him through the small city. Less than an hour later, Anna had thrown away the bitty outfit from the ranch and was dressed a bit more to Kratos' style. Dressed in black breeches with a red tunic and charcoal cloak, Anna felt less like a fugitive and more like who she was.

"Heheh, nice. You're good at this Kratos. Are you terrible with anything?" she teased, walking out of the shop with him. The clothes were a little big, but she figured that was good, because she intended to gain back what she lost at the Ranch.

Kratos had no comments for her questions. "Luin is a small city, and despite my earlier thoughts I think we'd do best by getting supplies and moving on. Although there are many who would hide is for a night there are still a few that would not. Let us be going."

So she still didn't get to sleep in a bed. Too bad, she was looking forward to that too. "Alright, if you think that's best. What kind of supplies do we need other than food anyway?"

Kratos walked up to a small cart. "Food, and various gels. There are monsters and bandits on the way, and I can't guarantee they'll all be open to attack for me. In such a situation, these medicinal items will be needed for wounds and energy." He seemed to know exactly what to choose, from the cooking items to the Panacea bottle. Anna's satchel (quite a large one, as she was a quick thinker in demanding situations) was used to house it all. She didn't mind carrying the supplies. Kratos was her body guard, not her chaperone. Anna was going to safely assume that his sword was heavier than he made it seem.

Anna sighed pessimistically as they left on another bridge.

Her mercenary glanced back at her. "What seems to be the matter?"

"Eh?" She looked at Kratos. "Nothing, I was just looking forward to the inn. Maybe the next city?" She gave him a smile.

"Hn…we'll see," he answered stiffly. If anything he found the new outfit more appealing on her, and hoped she wouldn't make the exsphere obvious. Although he wouldn't mind cutting down a Desian or two, that kind of trouble was tenacious.

"And, Anna… keep those gauntlets on at all times. They are not only to protect your exsphere, but your hands as well. The hard leather will be difficult for monster teeth and most weapons to penetrate."

"Okay." She gave him a funny look, as if she was amazed he expected she didn't already know that. Most of the time she chose to ignore those kinds of facts and stick to the important goal, but this was a key factor. That exsphere was the whole reason she was in this mess. _It's all the same to him_, she thought, watching his steady features. _Just another job… I wonder if he's done assassinations before… that's a bit of a strange thought. Even for money, I can't see him just cutting down a human life…_

- - - - - - -

Colder air… thinner air… it didn't matter. Gazing on the famous Tower of Salvation was really quite a sight, especially for the first adventure. Sitting cross-legged, in the darkness of night four days later, Anna stared at the sky, the darkness in which the Tower seemed to penetrate and disappear into. Kratos thought she was sleeping… but she couldn't help it. In this journey she may as well see the sights. She wouldn't be coming back here, to Hima, Asgard… any of it. Too dangerous, too many memories, and too hard to travel through.

"What are you doing up here?" Kratos asked darkly. Anna hadn't even noticed him coming up.

"Uh… just looking. Why? I'm not allowed?" She swallowed, then returned her eyes to the Tower.

"_No_…" he told her firmly. "My job is to make sure you get to your destination safely. That won't happen if you go wandering off. Get back to the inn." He seemed unimpressed, and refused to move until she followed his commands.

She ignored him happily. "It's really pretty at night, isn't it? With the clear sky and everything."

"Humph. If you say so," he responded moodily. "Are you done yet?"

She glared back at him. "Would it hurt you to show a little bit of feeling for once! I'm not gonna go back until I'm good and ready, and I don't get to see new things very often! How can you not appreciate rare, beautiful sights like this!"

Kratos did not dignify her with an answer. He stood there, watching as her temper grew. He'd seen that tower enough and frankly was quite tired of it. Her company was starting to wear down on his nerves, as well – to the point where he may actually display some sort of irritation _openly_.

Anna was tired of his attitude – or rather, lack of. She folded her arms resolutely and turned her attention to the starry sky. "I'm not going back in, Kratos. You aren't making me either."

Well now. Wasn't that a bit of a pathetic challenge? "Don't bet on it, _woman_."

"Bring it on, _soldier_."

Kratos gripped her upper arm and began to pull her away. "Don't test me on this," he warned. "You and I both know that you're going to lose to this. You would have been dead if not for me."

Anna glared at him darkly. "Yes? I didn't pay you to take control over me either! Let go of me! Right now!" She tugged away, and Kratos released her. Anna lost her balance, and landed hard on her left arm. She huffed and pulled herself back up. "Maybe you're too intelligent," she muttered, rubbing her arm. She had meant it when she said her exsphere was dormant – the fall had caused minor afflictions. She didn't turn away this time, just stood there giving him the darkest look she knew how. Kratos folded his arms.

"Get inside." He turned around, seemingly unapologetic. Anna took a step towards him to protest, tripping over an unseen rock on the ground. She gave a slight yelp as she fell toward the ground, bracing herself for the impact.

"Hn."

…Since when was the ground so soft?

She opened her eyes, finding herself in Kratos' arms. He had broken her fall? Why? He caused the first one… what was his prerogative anyway? Kratos stood up and let her stand on her own. Without so much as an explanation – or detracting comment – he continued down the slope of the mountain. Anna bit her lip, then followed him wordlessly. She could hear shouting and fighting below at the inn.

"What's going on?" she whispered, mostly to herself.

His right hand shot to his sword. "A fight, I would assume. Wait here, I'll go see what the problem is." He took off down the mountain down to the rest stop. Anna saw torches that belonged to the few people on this plateau, but what the torches were for, she did not see. There was a distinct sound of metal on metal then an agonized scream, before she saw someone cast a magical spell.

Whatever was causing a disturbance seemed to exist no longer after that. Kratos returned to where he had left her calmly. "You're alright?" he asked, although he could already tell she hadn't moved. "Good."

Anna went to take his arm – she wasn't sure how well she really could see this path. Kratos pulled away quickly. "What? What's the matter – " She looked at her hands. They were a darker colour than what they had been before. Blood. "You're…injured?"

"It's nothing," he grunted. "Leave me be."

"No way!" she argued. "You're hurt and I care about that! Let's go then and I'll bandage your arm for you!"

"Ugh, fine," he complied, taking to the inn. "You don't need to fuss over minor injuries. I've had much worse." _Odd woman…_ he mused. _Rude one moment, nursing me the next. What do they do to humans in these ranches?_

Inside their room on the second floor, Anna borrowed the inn's first-aid supplies. Cleaning her hands first, she demanded Kratos remove his gauntlets and shirt. After another spat she began to tear off the clothes herself. "You're such a hardhead," she told him as she finally worked off his upper-body clothing. "How are you supposed to protect me if you're hurt?" Taking a wet cloth she cleaned away the blood even as she spoke. "Besides, I'll have to learn these things for myself when you're gone… no problem in me starting now. What was it that you were fighting anyway?" She was glad to see him wince when she applied pressure to the wounds.

"Ah…a monster from the forest," he spoke hesitantly. "This really is…"

"Shush Kratos."

"…"

Anna took the bandaging and started on dressing his wound. Her fingers were cool… it felt odd against his warm skin. Kratos inaudibly sighed, allowing her to work on the wounds as she pleased. At this point he wasn't going to argue… he just wanted her to be done with it so that she would finally sleep. When she tied the last one Kratos moved away, making to blow out the lamps.

"Go to sleep now. Tomorrow we have some things to do before moving on." He refused to elucidate for her, so Anna turned over the sheets. At least tonight she was lucky enough to sleep in a bed.

The next morning, Kratos woke her early and brought her to the shoreline without explanation. He drew his sword and waited.

"So… what are we doing exactly?" Anna asked him, still rubbing sleep from her eyes. She yawned, pulling at the loose threads in her collar.

"A side quest, if you will," he replied, looking over the water. "Hima residents have been complaining that a monster was the reason for the lack of fish in this area. Someone overheard your loud conversing of my being a mercenary, and they offered a large sum of money for me to get rid of it. If this creature is just eating large amounts of fish I will have no trouble getting rid of it."

"So, what am I doing here? I think we both know that I can't fight monsters." She seemed to be forgetting she was his charge.

"Because…" Kratos stated, still looking for something in that endless mass of water. "…if I left you behind anyone could have carried you off."

"Oh yeah. Okay well if it means extra cash then I'm fine with that." She sat down on a rock. "Have fun with that, Kratos. She smiled, giving him a thumbs up sign. "'Sides, I'll like spending another night in a nice bed."

"Heh." Within minutes of watching him stare, Anna sighed and moved to lay on the grass, chewing on a piece.

"How long will this take?"

"Possibly the whole day. That is why I woke you at dawn."

"Jerk," she mumbled, staring at the few clouds in the sky. Anna dozed off an hour later, as nothing had happened.

Kratos was aware of what she was doing… or not doing. Once she fell asleep, he moved right up to the ebbing tide line. It did not take the seasoned warrior long to notice that the water had begun boiling despite the cool morning. He backed away when the distinctive sound of a kraken surfaced.

Facing him was the giant squid-like creature, with cursed eyes and about the same mass and size of the Hima inn. Taking another couple steps back, Kratos closed his eyes and began a spell.

"Lightning!"

It let out a screech, which startled Anna from her nap. Her eyes widened in shock, and maybe disgust, as Kratos' magic hit it. He parried off the heavy tentacles with his sword, at a great disadvantage. If he was unable to get into the water he would never get a close enough hit to kill it and then get on with his day.

"Wind blade!" A temporary fix, Kratos went and struck out with the hopes of hitting a vital organ of the beast. The Kraken's skin was rubber-like and smooth in texture, and Kratos' sword did nothing more than deflect off. Gritting his teeth, he moved forward through the water and forced his sword into the Kraken's flesh. One of the many strong tentacles wrapped around his legs as he continued to might his blade through to what he assumed was the direction of the thing's stomach.

The Kraken retaliated; Kratos was pulled suddenly beneath the water then flung back onto the shore. Now soaking wet and coughing up water, he was at an even greater inconvenience. He pulled off his cloak-type-thing, tossing it back to Anna.

"Wind blade!" With that tiny distraction he began to summon his healing spell. "First aid!" Anna watched him in amazement as he continued to demonstrate his amazing swordsmanship, as well as his magical capacity. With that healing spell he seemed to deal well with the sharp blows dealt. The Kraken was bleeding from his sword strike from earlier, but ostensibly not affected. Kratos dealt two more lightning attacks to the area he assumed was the brain before backing to Anna.

"Stronger than I expected," he muttered to himself, watching it thrash wildly.

"Don't you think you should kill it before… you now, it gets really mad?" Anna pointed out, tapping her fingers against her knee. "Because I kind of need you alive to get to my destination."

"I'm aware of that," he responded calmly. "Providing I can get one good strike at it's eyes or brain, then we should be done. It seems too injured to collect itself." He left her side and dashed back into the water, leaping unnaturally high for his explained strike. After one last scream, it began to sink into the water, Kratos and his sword attached with it.

When the water returned to it's normal temperature a couple of minutes later Kratos had not resurfaced.

Anna dashed up to the shoreline, looking around. "Kratos? Kratos! KRATOS!" Unsure of what else was in that water, Anna was not about to step in. Why wasn't he coming out? He wasn't allowed to die until he got her away from the Desians! "Damn it Kratos if you die I'm going to kill you!" she threatened, looking around frantically. But still, minutes later she didn't see him, until she saw the small dark spot floating on the water. Kicking off her boots and taking off her cloak, she overcame the uncertainty of the ocean and swam towards it.

Sure enough, there was her mercenary, though unconscious. With a lot of effort and strength she had no idea she obtained, Anna managed to drag him back onto the beach.

"Okay… come on Kratos, start breathing because neither one of us wants me to do this!" she told him, sort of whining. With no response, Anna took a deep breath, and began to breathe for him. He coughed up seawater the second time she pushed on his chest, and then opened his eyes as she put her mouth to his again. She had her eyes shut tight, so he was forced to wait a moment until she was done.

She turned several deep shades of red when she realized he was conscious through that last one. "Its not what you think!" she replied hurriedly as he sat up. "You, you weren't breathing a-and then I needed to – "

"I understand," he said stiffly, pushing his wet hair out of his eyes. Anna began to wring her hair out, avoiding his gaze. Sand was sticking to her wet clothing, which in turn was sticking to her form. She stood up and walked back to her boots and cloak, picking them up to keep herself busy.

Kratos followed her then went to where he had left his own mantle. "I suppose we should get back now," he stated as she tied up her boots.

"I guess so," she acknowledged, still not looking at him. The walked back to Hima in silence, Anna still flustered at his being conscious at such a moment. _Not that I wanted him to be dead for longer,_ she added to herself, _but why was I so stupid that I didn't even see if he was better!_

Kratos touched his lips, envisioning what kinds of responses Yggdrasill would have to his predicament. _Strange she would do that_, he thought_. I would have recuperated in a few mere moments. Then, she also doesn't think I hold that sort of power…_

They climbed the summit to Hima, and were greeted by the few people of the tiny traveler's point. The inn, now much larger than what it would be almost two decades later, had many regulars. Not wanting to lose those people, the inn had hired Kratos to slay the bothersome Kraken. He tossed them a piece of a tentacle as they began to ask questions.

"It sank down to the bottom once I impaled the brain," he explained as Anna gagged over the piece of giant squid. "More than likely other preying animals will have devoured by tomorrow." He looked over to Anna. "Now get inside." She was too sick over the dismantled appendage to argue and followed his instruction.

"I can't believe you kept that," she complained as she combed her hair. "That's so gross…" She shuddered just from thinking about it. "Did they really need more proof than your injuries and the both of us looking half drowned?"

"Yes." He didn't seem to care too much for his appearance as Anna was. "They'll go looking for the rest of the body later., though I wouldn't expect it to wash up on shore. It was quite heavy."

She shrugged, untying her boots and pulling them off. "Yeah well, we're both wet without a change of clothes now and I'd much rather be sitting on top of the mountain –"

"Plateau." Kratos corrected.

" – whatever, and looking at something interesting. But I can't because I'm wet from saving you and the air up there is thin and cold and it's nice out, I'd rather be outside!"

"You will get sick," he returned calmly. "And I don't quite relish the idea of having to take care of you." He sighed quietly to himself as she sneezed. Was she that low in immunity to colds as well?

"Maybe we're a bit late for that," she mumbled dizzily, blinking a few times. "I'll probably be over it by tomorrow, if I get some sleep now. Its only like, noon isn't it?"

Kratos nodded.

"Then I'm going to sleep. Get out so I can take my clothes off." Kratos had no problem with respecting her privacy. A young man working at the inn offered to lend him some dry clothing for the day. Although vacillate, Kratos nodded and thanked him. He was quite sure Anna was asleep – in fact he was certain from her mumblings of some memory or other – so he changed there. He ignored Anna's sleepy mumblings as she turned position.

Deliriously, Anna watched him clip his belt to the pants of the new outfit, still shirtless. _He has a nice butt_, she thought to herself. _I like this dream, even if he's a bit of a jerk._ He turned towards her slightly, and she fell back into a deep sleep after gazing at his smooth, toned torso.

_Really good dream…_ were her closing thoughts as she lapsed back into her reminiscence.

Kratos sat outside their room, guarding it like a hawk. He would sleep at night when he was tired and no sooner. He felt strangely unprotected in the dark red tunic and pants borrowed from the young man. His sword rested on the floor, sheathed, so as not to scare the travelers in Hima. After buying some supplies the next morning from the barter outside, he would have her continue on with him past the mountains, and then with her need for constant rest and attention they would end up camping in an open field.

He stared at the Cruxis crystal on his hand, along with the Rune Crest. It was strange, how Kvar and Yggdrasill were so concerned about the Asgard Ranch and it's Angelus project. Anna's exsphere had proven it's quiescence, and it didn't seem like the dangers she was facing were going to activate it anytime soon. Yggdrasill had always been strange like that… Kratos came to the decision that Yggdrasill had an another motive for this.

Anna hadn't risen – even to eat, which was strange – ever since she went to sleep at noon. It was now past sunset, and everyone at the inn was settling down. Kratos stood up and stretched, before re-entering the room. Although only dimly lit from a candle, he could see around the small room and chanced a glance at Anna. He was not yet fatigued, but instead of waiting outside he decided to stay in there.

Curled up into a ball, Anna had the sheet wrapped around her chest, just covering her breasts and obscuring the rest of her body. Her lips were slightly parted and she breathed softly, a sign that she was indeed still fast asleep. Kratos sat down on the mattress of his own cot, watching her sleep. From that angle he could only see her brown hair and pale bare back, but that was more than enough for Kratos. _Attractive woman_, he mused, _it is unfortunate what her fate is. Considering the fact that she is domestically capable, she could be quite popular in the cities…a good homemaker, wife…_

He sat up rigidly. Why in the seven hells was he pondering something like that? Sighing, he slouched comfortably once more. She turned over several minutes later, staring at him wide-eyed, almost like a child.

"I'm naked and you're watching me sleep," she stated, pulling the covers up her chest.

"Very observant, Anna," he stated back cleanly, trying not to smirk. He wasn't too effective with that one.

"You pervert. Get out so I can get dressed." She glanced around the room. "Or at least go stand in the corner. Facing away from me."

Leaving his sword on the cot Kratos did as she bade, standing in the corner by the window. He heard her shifting off the bed, and unfolding her now dried clothing (one of the girls working at the inn had set them out to dry earlier). He turned his eyes in curiousity to the window pane. Although she was almost plainly facing him, she seemed not to acknowledge he was peeping at her reflection in the window.

Anna pulled on her breeches first, and then reached for her tunic. All the while, too busy thinking about that odd dream she had of him changing into those exact clothes to notice the reflection of her half dressed body was in the window. Once she finished belting everything the way she liked she folded her arms.

"Alright, Kratos, you can turn around now." The mercenary returned to his cot with a deadpan face. _I am never wrong…_ he smiled inwardly.

Anna looked outside the window. "Oh lets go up the plateau again! I want to go see the Tower of Salvation tonight!"

He groaned as he picked up his sword, putting it to his belt. "Anna, you went and saw it last night…"

"So what!" she cried. "I want to see it one last time since I probably never will again! And I'll even let you come with me willingly."

Ten minutes of arguing later he was standing up at the top of the small mountain with her. His injuries from the other night were forgotten as Anna clamped onto his arm. He was basically her guarantee that she wouldn't fall like the night before.

"And you're going to stare at that forsaken tower for how long?"

Anna shrugged. "Until I'm bored with looking at it. Come on, Soldier, it IS pretty. I bet you've been all over Sylvarant haven't you?"

Kratos' expression became vacant at her nickname. "One could say that, yes." He wished she would stop being so needy and walk without clinging to his arm. He didn't like this restricted movement. At least she wasn't on his sword arm…that would have just pissed him off.

"Look!" Anna tugged him and pointed to the sky. "You missed it! A shooting star!" She smiled, perhaps warmly and truly for the first time in a while. "Hmm… what do I wanna wish for? Oh! I know!" She was silent for a few moments, and Kratos was curious.

"What, of all things exactly, did you wish for?" he asked, sounding uninterested anyway.

"True freedom for everyone – including me – working under the Desians… one day, I want everyone to live in peace without them." Her eyes were distant. "Especially if I ever settle down… and if not before, then I want my kid to help anyone they can that's been hurt by Desians."

"A bit broad don't you think?" he continued to question, averting his attention from the Tower.

She shrugged, taking a hand away from his arm to brush her hair out of her face as the wind picked up. "No… not really. It's just a wish, dummy; it doesn't mean I can make it happen." She paused, looking somber. "Though, I'd never complain about anything ever again… if it came true…"

"Hn…"

She bit her lip, feeling a bit lacking. She scuffed the dirt with the toe of her boot, nervously. "It's getting windy so let's go back in now," she spoke finally, pulling him away, down the slope. It was picking up, to the point where dust was blown into their eyes. Clouds were moving in overhead, foretelling a storm. Not wanting to get caught Anna walked faster, and, inevitably…

She tripped. And brought Kratos down with her.

They rolled down the hellish steep for a bit before Kratos put out his hands, and stopped, over Anna. Directly, in fact. Anna opened her eyes cautiously, blinking a few times to seeing Kratos' face directly above her. He was holding himself up enough not to crush her beneath his weight, but he was close…very close. He wasn't moving either. Anna swallowed, blushing for the second time that day.

"Kratos . . . ?"

"Anna."

She blinked, unable to even glance away. Her heart was picking up in tempo, and then her nose began to tickle. He was too close, was he moving closer? She tried holding her breath but her nose continued to itch. "Ah, ah, ah…. Achoo!" There was a deep _clunk_ sound as her forehead hit his sharply, giving them both a possible concussion. Kratos moved off of her then, rubbing the smarting area above his eyes. Anna had her hands over her own forehead, whining to herself.

"Ow, I'm so sorry Kratos, ow-ow-ow…"

"Humph, nothing." He stood up and offered her a hand. "Let us go now, before the storm falls." She took his hand, nodding dumbly and following him. What a way to ruin a close moment. Ruin? Was that really what she thought? _No_, she told herself. _No, I don't like him, and that was saving me. Yes. Saving me!_

- - - - - - -

Anna felt sleep-deprived and groggy through all the traveling the next day. It had been raining since they saw the storm clouds, and the thick misty downpour had yet to halt. The hood of Anna's cloak wasn't doing her very good, either. It was wet, as was her hair and most of her clothing. Her feet were cold and the constant sloshing sound of their steps was turning into an annoying drone. Again she was carrying supplies; he was a fighter and didn't need that extra restriction.

"Isn't there someplace for shelter around here?" she asked quietly, trying to keep up with him.

"No." He had been like that since that awkward moment the night before. Barely giving her more than single syllable answers, he kept his pace the same and his eyes forward. She was amazed at his lack of quandary with the weather despite the fact he too was also quite wet.

"Are you going to talk to me at all today?" she pressed, shivering.

"Not likely."

She scowled in exasperation. At least he used two syllables this time. Pulling the wet cloak around her tighter, she looked at her feet. _Squishy_, _squishy_. It was getting on her nerves. "Is this about last night?" she dared to solicit. "I didn't mean to sneeze… I just….did."

He still wasn't looking at her. "Humph," was his rejection. Did she have to do something totally stupid to get his attention? She lost track of the main goal as she scrolled through the many things she might do later to make him talk. She wouldn't injure herself because that would look REALLY dumb and then she would have to deal with pain…over half of the list was gone then.

Kratos folded his arms as they followed the forest trails long since abandoned. How could he have been so foolish as to…and pause right when… then allow something like that to humiliate him! It was unacceptable for a person of his status, especially with a charge who was later going to be given back to her enemies. What was with him, it started out at the ocean and then back at the inn… followed by her clumsy approaches on the mountain. It almost made him mad. Almost; operative word.

_Slosh-squish-plup. _

He wasn't going to say anything but it was becoming monotonous. He half wished for a possessed phoenix wannabe to randomly attack him. At least the screeching would be a new sound; something to pass the time to nightfall. He almost flinched when Anna attached herself to him again.

"What now?" he asked, more exhausted and bothered than he had meant to.

"I saw something move. So I'm staying close to you," she said in a low voice, almost lost in the rain.

_Squishy, squishy. _

He sighed. She was so hard to emotionally keep track of. "Whatever. Probably just a monster foraging for food." It didn't seem like Desian style to be out and in these woodlands, creeping around skillfully anyway. In any case he wasn't going to reject the slight heat coming from her body, even though his tolerance level was dropping.

"Hey, Kratos?"

He gave her a look that could almost kill.

She flinched a bit. "Um, whats that shape over there? In the trees? It looks like a house."

Kratos followed the direction she was pointing in, unable to clearly tell the details. "Perhaps. I am not aware of any villages close by, so don't keep your hopes up. We should be looking for caverns, not cities."

When they came upon the figure, it was indeed a house, but only a few walls remained and any food or equipment had already been pillaged. "There is only a couple of shabby burlap blankets…" Anna spoke, disappointed. She sighed and folded them up tightly. "We might be able to use them later tonight though…"

Kratos gave her a curt nod. "You're learning quick. Keep them as dry as you can, and we'll scavenge only what we need."

Anna was about to say something before she heard loud whimpering. Kratos' hand moved instinctively towards his sword, while Anna looked around. "It sounds like a puppy!" she told him, tossing away the shambles of what might have been a table. Beneath that was a soaked rug. Anna ignored Kratos' warning and pulled it away gently.

Whimpering beneath was a green and white pup of… some sort of dog-like-creature Anna didn't know about. "KRATOS! It's a…puppy-thing! We can't leave it out here, he's probably hungry and cold and lonely and scared and…"

Alright, anything to make her shut up now! "Fine, Anna, take it, and you can leave it with someone else in the next village!" He turned on his heel and walked away a small distance to wait for her.

Anna beamed. "Okay, come here puppy…" She unfolded one of the burlap blankets, wrapping him in it and then setting him in her satchel. He was small enough, and there was more than enough room in that thing. It was an amazing bag that seemed to expand without really looking like it was expanding. She wasn't complaining, it was a good thing. Holding the satchel steady, Anna ran up to Kratos, in better spirits.

"Thank you! Okay, lets find that cave!" She let the small pup lick her hand as they continued to venture. She was keeping him under her cloak and away from more rain, as well as trying to keep the one other blanket dry. After forever, Kratos finally found a dry place for them to bunk down for the night, and hopefully that would be it.

Not wasting any time with flint, Kratos gathered things from outside for firewood and set them ablaze with his magic. The dog had stopped whining some time back, trusting Anna's care. He wasn't as wet as he had seemed, Anna found, when she unwrapped him from the blanket near the fire. The blanket wasn't even all that damp, and the supplies were in tact.

"What should I name him Kratos?" Anna asked as she set the meat on the stone slab to cook.

"Humph, I don't quite care." Although, Kratos found he looked strikingly like the pictures of the race called arishis he'd seen as a child.

"Come on Kratos, I don't wanna give him a dumb name… hmm…" She looked at him. "Funny looking doggy, that you are," she told him, scratching behind his ears.

"It is reminiscent of a picture from a legend," Kratos spoke up. "The character that looked like him was called _Noishe_."

The puppy perked up as Kratos spoke. Anna noticed, and grinned. "Alright then, I'm naming you Noishe!" She obviously had never heard of the legend of the protozoan or any stories attached to it. He sighed to himself. _She had better not get attached to it_, he thought, _we can't afford to keep him around._

Anna had learned quick, it seemed; the meal she prepared eased the depressed tension from the trek outside. She fed the arishis-looking creature some of her own meal, in a much brighter mood than even Kratos expected. It was a small cave with enough room to shelter the both of them…even as the wind changed direction. Kratos barricaded them in with trees he easily felled, and once that was done there was nothing left they could do.

With the fire crackling quietly, Anna and Kratos sat beside each other at the back of the small grotto, the burlap blankets over their laps as their cloaks hung over the smoke of the fire. Noishe was stationed over in Anna's lap; she cuddled him and gave him whatever attention he demanded. Like a child with a new pet, was Anna.

The puppy had long since fallen asleep when Kratos and Anna were still awake. She stroked Noishe's ears softly, already quite attached to him. "Do I really have to give him to someone in the next village? He doesn't look like a normal dog… no one but kids will like him, and in these times kids don't get much freedom to what they want." She smiled faintly before finishing. "Heck, I should know. I'm the daughter of an almost-aristocrat… what about you, and your family, Kratos?" she asked softly, looking down at Noishe. Where were _his_ mother and father?

"Hn, not much to say. I had a mother, a father, and that is my story." He spoke in the past tense, not looking at her when he spoke… like always. It was almost like he hated acknowledging people, wanted to be alone….feared contact?

Anna nudged him gently with her elbow. "Oh come on. Tell me something about before you became a mercenary." Kratos was silent, refusing to disclose. He looked over in surprise when Anna rested her head on his shoulder.

"There is always something, I can see it in your eyes. How about this, I'll give you something for telling me one thing. Just one." She smiled at him, not moving her head away from his shoulder.

Kratos continued to stare away blankly. "And what do you have that I would want, or don't already know you own?"

"That's a secret," she told him playfully. "Now tell me!"

He shook his head. "I'd rather not." He wasn't going to look at her, then he would feel obligated to speak. Anna frowned.

"Why? Have you been a loner for all your life?" He looked down at her, eyebrow raised. Anna blushed.

"That didn't come out right!" she protested. "Come on tell me SOMETHING!"

Kratos had done it. He looked into those emotionally deep eyes, and now he felt compelled to speak. "Alright," he grunted, trying to keep his composure. "What do you wish to know?"

Anna thought for a bit. "What was your favourite memory?"

This took a bit of time. He had just over four thousand years to contemplate over. "Humph, I would have to say learning to use a sword with my father. Are you pleased now?"

Anna smiled warmly. "Uh huh… you still want that surprise…?" She was looking away now, blushing still.

Kratos smirked slightly. "I'm interested I suppose… what did you have in mind again?" Her behaviour wasn't strange at this point.

"Fine. Close your eyes first."

Kratos sighed, and did as she asked. He opened one eye slightly as she placed her hand on his cheek, and both eyes widened in complete and total shock when she kissed him. It was brief, and when she pulled away she was still smiling. Kratos blinked a few times, and turned to face the fire.

"I wasn't suspecting that." He stared blankly, dumb stricken.

Anna giggled. "I figured. But that's cute, you hanging out with your dad like that. I bet you were one of those super stubborn kids with a cute pouting face."

Kratos looked at her like she was insane. "You will never cease to amaze me with your strange assumptions."

She patted his hand. "I know, Kratos. I know." Her fingers slipped between his, so that she could hold his warm hand. "We should get some sleep. I have a bad feeling about a lot of walking tomorrow…" She moved so she could rest her head against his arm and was soon asleep. Before closing his own eyes to sleep himself, Kratos wondered if she could sleep standing… maybe one day he'd know…

"Kratos! No! I don't want to leave him behind at the next town!" Anna protested as they cut through the thick forest in their way. "I'll take care of him I swear and he's quiet and really isn't that much of a hassle besides he's got green ears and no one wants anything abnormal anymore because the Desians just take them for themselves! Please Kratos!"

Noishe barked happily in Anna's arms.

Kratos shook his head. "Our identities are at stake enough as is. I don't want to waste time with this."

Anna's fierce smile returned. "Exactly! The Desians don't know that we're traveling with a puppy-thing! It's perfect! You're so smart, Kratos!"

"That won't work with me Anna; flattery has gotten no one anywhere with _me_." He looked at her, holding the puppy, soft brown hair falling over one eye. She didn't care what she appeared to others. He also noticed, that her exsphere was no longer dull red, but actually a violet colour. _So it's changing…I'll inform Yggdrasill later_.

Anna, as they walked, took out the old copy of her wanted poster. "_Wanted: Host body A012. Unmarried, mid twenties_… -- I'm only twenty two. _Traveling with unknown man, exsphere. If handed over to the Desians a reward will be put in effect. Brown hair and Eyes. _Pft. I have green eyes, and of course I'm not married, are they stupid!" She shook her head, then stopped moving.

"T-that's it!" she declared.

"What now?" Kratos posed, looking like a great warrior as he stood.

"Unmarried, and I have green eyes. This is the disguise we're looking for!"

He knew right then he would NOT like where this was going. Exhaling a mushroom cloud sigh, he waited for the rest.

"We can pretend to be a newly married couple on a pilgrimage! And Noishe is our dog, and I can hide the exsphere, Martel knows we fight enough like one."

((a/n: Martel, I would assume, is like saying a "god knows" kind of thing '))

Kratos' eyes flickered in memory as she spoke the name Martel. That disappeared too. "Anna… a married couple? On a pilgrimage with Noishe as a _pet_?" He was not about to admit he knew nothing of marriage. The only one he would have gotten a chance to witness was destroyed at the end of the Kharlan war.

Anna nodded to confirm. "That way we won't get caught and we can keep Noishe. Don't tell me you have no idea how marriage works. Do I have to show you that too?"

Kratos blushed and looked away. "My mother left my father…" That was all he was going to admit… Yuan and Martel, well, that was private. He would never betray that friendship.

"Oh. I'm sorry Kratos. Don't worry about it, I've had two moms already so I think I get how a couple works. Er, in public I guess we just hold hands and act romantic and stuff. Can't be that hard. You don't speak a lot anyway, so I'll do all the lying for us!" Noishe wagged his tail in agreement.

Kratos was in no mood for another argument. It was intelligent of her to counteract everything on the poster…he hadn't even looked at it yet. He didn't think he would have to worry about this couple thing for a while, Izoold was still quite far off. His fluster had left by the time he had found a mountain trail. He was going to take the super long way…and their passage was soon blocked by two imps and an ogre. Kratos drew his sword, motioning for Anna to stay back. She nodded, looking at the small imps. They were cute, with bright pink hair and green skin.

Once one disappeared and the other giggled, Noishe began to growl. Anna set him down, backing to the safety and support of a tree. She screamed in anger as vines bound her to the tree, followed by the giggles of the imp.

"Let go of me you little green jerks!" She struggled against the thick, brown, thorny vines holding her. "Argh! Noishe! Sick 'em!" The pup looked at her, and returned to fiercely growling and snapping at the imps. One danced too close, and Noishe locked his jaws on it's leg. Crying out in pain, the imp attempted to break away. However, the dog had a grip of steel and when he finally let go, he remained stainless as the imp bled from a stuck main artery. The second imp, once looking at (his? her?) fallen comrade, ran away, deep into the forest of which they had traveled from.

Kratos muttered something under his breath before outstretching his hand. "Grave!" The ogre was run through by the attack, and Kratos forced his sword through it's heart. Pulling the sword out after a moment, he turned to Anna. The thorns were piercing her skin and she was acting very brave, although he could easily see she was in pain.

"Stop moving." He looked at the vines, trying to cut them with his sword. They were think and his blade was not made for sawing. Anna bit her lip as she bled onto the plant, closing her eyes and hoping he got through with this soon. They stung, like insect stingers. Only it felt more like washing a wound with citric juice…like acid.

"Kratos!" He looked behind him as the ogre stood up. Only now he was undead looking…too quick a change to escape Kratos' suspicion. Anna looked at him. "Just go kill that thingy and come free me after. If I stop moving it'll stop cutting right so hurry before Noishe gets hurt! And don't you dare get injured again!"

Kratos nodded, but did not leave her side. "Hell Pyre!" Although the attack was strong and not one Anna had witnessed before it seemed to do nothing. Kratos took the blunt of a lousy punch in front of Anna. While his sword took most of the blow, Kratos was not heavy enough to hold his ground and was thrown into a large old oak. He made a painful sound on contact, and hit the ground with little defense.

"Kratos! KRATOS! KYAA!" Anna jerked her head painfully to the side as the ogre's fist buried itself into her tree. "Oh boy, no, Noishe go see Kratos!" she commanded, working the gauntlet off of her hand with the exsphere…there had to be something it could do… In moving the thorns pierced deeper and Anna tried to free one arm, despite the tearing and pain. She bit her lip to keep from crying out as she freed her arm. Her exsphere glowed brightly, blinding her, and when she could see clearly the vines and thorns had shriveled away. The ogre was still trying to clear his vision and she took her chance.

She stumbled to Kratos, who still lay out of it. Noishe whined softly, scared. Anna looked around. "Kratos! Kratos wake up!" Why was he so susceptible to this kind of thing? She heard an angry groan behind and grabbed the first thing she saw – Kratos' long-sword.

It wasn't as heavy as it seemed, but still odd in her hands. She glared, holding the hilt with both of her slender hands. She had no idea how to use it properly but she sure as hell would try. Her arms shook as she held the blade…it seemed to be getting heavier…regardless, she stood still.

"Gyah! Take that!" With an amazingly sloppy swing she decapitated it and tripped backward onto Kratos, winding him awake. Hm. Odd. She picked herself up immediately, dropping his sword and kneeling down beside him. "Kratos? Kratos I'm so sorry are you okay?" She helped him to sit up. Her muscles felt strained.

Kratos shook his head to clear it. "Open up your satchel and take out the mélange gel we bought…now…" Anna nodded and pulled it out and administered it to Kratos. Instantly his injuries healed and he stood up, picking up his sword. He looked at Anna sidelong.

"Cover up that exsphere right now. Then explain to me what happened."

Clumsily Anna made her way to the tree to pickup her fallen gauntlet. She slipped it on after much trouble, and used the tree to help her to stand up. Her tunic was all torn up, and bloody, darker red where her life had bled out. "I had a strange insight, like maybe my…my…" She couldn't find the word, "…jewel thingy could help me… and then it was…light…" She teetered over face first, limbs stiff and eyes half closed. "You…were hurt…" Kratos caught her, eyes narrowed dangerously. She closed her eyes with a wince.

"…a-acid." She went slack against him. Kratos looked at the vines that had been restraining her and gasped – out loud – when he remembered what they were.

"Damn it all to hell," he muttered. Many centuries ago, Mithos had gotten caught in an entire thicket of them. Had it not been for Martel's magic and Yuan's quick realization he may have died. Imps were weak creatures with powerful botanical poisons…poisons he could not purge. And if Anna died before the exsphere showed anything Yggdrasill would not be pleased…at least, that was what Kratos had understood.

The first thing he did, however, was take off her tunic. Ignoring her half naked body he cleaned out the thorn piercings and bandaged them, trying to work as fast as he could. Unfortunately with worn hands from an eternity of sword work this was not an easy task. Eventually he bandaged everything that he was able to see and put her torn clothes back on her. Lifting her cold body onto his back, he looked at Noishe and expected the arishis to follow.

The pup did, through the mountain trail until they reached a small hut two hours later. Kratos set Anna down on the only cot in the abandoned shack and almost tore it apart looking for a panacea bottle, or something. Nothing turned up from his search and he looked back at Anna. The only thing left to do was to find a village and soon, anyone out in these parts would have to have some equipment or magic on them.

Picking Anna up once again, he took another gel to renew his energy and trudged on. Noishe whined quietly at his heels, following easily with that pace. He could tell Anna was sick and was not getting better. Kratos managed to avoid all of the monsters and creatures on the summit and refused to stop. He couldn't remember what Martel had advised them if it ever happened again…it was too long ago. Cursing, he only moved faster. Mithos was half elf, such things did not affect him quickly. But Anna, Anna was human. She had been moving around quite a bit after the first of the poison fell into her system. It would have long since circulated through her body…he'd be lucky if her heart didn't suddenly stop.

"Heheh, You know I don't think Kvar will care if we take a day off," called one loud voice as the sun set.

Kratos stopped breathing, stopped moving. There was no way these people were not Desians. He crept forward beneath the ledge, Noishe following cautiously. He had smelled the change in Kratos, the wariness was easy to tell. Anna was a dead weight strapped to Kratos' back and he knew he couldn't fight them all off or anything. Then again he was pretty sure none of the Desians knew who HE was… but he couldn't leave Anna unattended. They probably had tons of panacea bottles as well. Kratos shook his head and continued to slip by. Anna wouldn't have wanted help from a Desian force anyway.

Kratos sucked in a breath a moment later as he made a stone skid.

"Hey did you hear that?" one of the officers called. "There another one of those creatures?" Kratos was busy getting Anna off of him, loosing the sword from it's sheath.

"Noishe," he cooed softly, calling the animal over. "Stay with Anna. I want you to fight off anything that comes after her." Noishe nodded – odd – and Kratos moved up toward the camp with his sword.

"Double demon fang! Grave!" Kratos killed them all…at least that was what he assumed. They were not moving and he did not go back to Noishe immediately, nor was he thorough in assuring their death. Anna was top priority.

Foraging through their own supplies he came across several panacea bottles and a miracle bottle – a type of medicine he found only in Tethe'alla. Swiping the aids for his own journey he returned to Anna and Noishe.

"Anna!" he called placidly, uncapping one of the panacea bottles. She made no sound, her breathing light. Kratos parted her lips with his fingers and slowly gave her the medicine. At first she spit it out, and Kratos forced her to sit upright. After a few more tries, she began to swallow it.

Several minutes later she groaned loudly. "That was gross," she mumbled groggily, trying to stand.

"Lay still. You're not healed yet," Kratos told her quietly, pushing her to lay back.

"Ow… HEY! Someone's rummaged through our packs!" called a Desian. Anna, although unsure of the situation, stared at Kratos with wide eyes. He moved closer and put a finger to her lips, picking up his sword. He left his sheath beside Anna as he made his way toward the apparently-not-dead Desians. Anna swallowed and looked around, holding Noishe to her.

Kratos cleared his throat to attract their attention. "Have you a problem?" he asked them calmly.

"Yeah, you pal!" Prepared this time, all four ran at Kratos despite their injuries. In blocking one attack another fell off the ledge to where Anna was.

"Oi! Check it out I found the runaway!"

All fighting ceased.

Anna's eyes were quite wide. "What are you talking about…?" She reached for Kratos' sword sheath.

The Desian lifted off his helmet to study her face. "Yeah you are, you bit me four months ago!"

Anna sweat dropped. "Oh, uh, no I didn't. You're imagining things. I'm not really here…eheh…"

Kratos kept his eyes on the Desians in front of him, smirking. "Really Anna, and you expected to get off easy? It looks like I'll have to kill you all for real then. Lightning!"

All the metal covering their bodies only amplified the three bolts that came from nowhere, which in turn heated and fried their bodies past any healable state. Beneath the ledge Anna set Noishe down and kicked. "GET AWAY OR I'LL BITE YOU AGAIN! HYA! TAKE THAT!"

_Clink, clink, clink!_ Anna was beating Kratos' sword scabbard against the head of the Desian, hoping the noise alone wound take him out. _Bang. Bang._

"Anna don't you dare ruin that scabbard!"

Anna stopped beating and looked at Kratos with her hands on her hips. "Then why don't you kill him, Mr. Soldier!"

"Oh, I will." He hesitated. "Move. I don't want you to get –"

"Eyah!" Anna was pulled off her feet and against the Desian. She swallowed as his strong armoured arms held her fast to him. He was holding tight across her chest and it made her boobs hurt…jerk.

Kratos sighed and rubbed his temples. "—hurt," he completed, shaking his head. "Such an idiot woman." He leapt down, and faced the Desian as he stood up and pulled Anna with him.

"I'll kill her if you step any closer!" the half elf threatened.

Kratos raised an eyebrow. "No you won't, you need her alive to return to the ranch."

"Gee I love you too Kratos," Anna muttered. "That's the part where you say, 'You bastard! Let her go!' and attack and save me romantically! Don't you know anything!"

"Hey, no input from the hostage!" The Desian kicked her roughly. Anna refused to scream, but her face twisted in pain.

Kratos stepped toward them angrily. "Perhaps I'll spare your life if you allow Anna free."

"No way, there's a nice big bonus waiting for me when I bring A012 back to Kvar."

Anna looked back, exploiting all of the bottled anger within her. "I have a name, you _half elf!_ You could at least honour me that!"

The look the Desian gave Anna made her blood run cold. She'd never seen such a deep essence of hatred before. She bit her lip to stifle the cry as he attacked her again, still backing from Kratos. Anna looked away from the half elf with a glare. She didn't like looking scared, especially not in front of that ego maniac, Kratos.

Kratos assessed the situation. He couldn't use his sword…she was being used as a shield. And so long as she was pressed against him, magic was out of the question. What choice did he have? He couldn't reveal his Cruxis status, that would totally botch the entire plan. With an aggravated sigh he dropped his sword to the ground, and took a running start to the pair. Anna watched him move, like a slow-motion movie, and her eyes went wide when he clenched his fist and drew back his arm. Anna moved her head painfully out of the way of the Desian's face.

His jaw made a sickening cracking sound on the brunt of Kratos' knuckles. Almost immediately Anna was released and she scrambled behind Kratos, who proceeded to impale the poor soldier using Grave. When Anna looked back a moment later, the spire had broken through his armor and spine, and his lifeless body lay twisted and bleeding on the stone. Kratos yanked her with him to retrieve his things, too angry and disappointed, even to snap at her. He rudely shoved her bag toward her and began to walk, glancing almost in apology at the broken bodies as he went. Anna followed, feeling indignation herself. How dare he act like that! It wasn't her fault he distracted her and got her caught. Then…again…she could have listened, and run…

Noishe whined at her heels, and she stopped to lift him up. "Yes, you're my puppy," she whispered to him, sighing as Kratos gave no response. What did she do wrong? His sword sheathe was fine. He wasn't badly hurt, was he?

They wandered the dark trail, not speaking and paying attention even less. Kratos continued on until dawn, ignoring Anna's whining. Finally, Anna gave up, and sat on the ground on a small boulder. He stopped walking and looked back at her darkly.

"Get up. We need to clear the area."

Anna shook her head. "I'm tired, and I'm hungry, and confused."

A hint of cruel amusement flickered in his eyes. "That's not unexpected."

Angry tears formed in Anna's eyes. "That's not what I meant and you know it!" Her outburst was almost a shriek. "What the hell is your problem! Some imp thingy poisons me and even though I helped defend you a little bit, you still think you have the right to act like a complete and total **_ASS_**? I'm sorry I'm not a big tough soldier like you! But it's not exactly like I ever got the chance to do anything fancy like that! So blow off the your stupid macho act and start explaining! Do you suffer from PMS or something! Well! I demand an answer RIGHT NOW KRATOS!"

Her face was turning red from all the energy spent screaming. She swallowed and rubbed the tears from her eyes, bottom lip stuck out stubbornly.

Kratos regarded her in an immobile fashion before speaking. "Anna, on top of being useless you are loud and attracting attention. If you're going to be angry, do it where your voice will not proceed to echo in the canyons." Noishe growled at his response; Kratos ignored him. "Secondly, you mistreated that soldier because of his race, not what he was doing to you. Prejudice makes you no better than he was in his life."

Anna could only look at him, gaping in disbelief. This was about an angry outburst?

Kratos was not done, and calmly continued with his explanation. "I don't want to hear your selfish whining about all half-elves being the same; they're not. Are all humans the same? Hardly. All elves are different as well. For acting so insightful half the time, you really have no idea what you're talking about do you?"

Anna closed her mouth, frowning. "I wasn't thinking when I said that."

"Obviously," Kratos snapped. "Did you ever consider the power of your words? Why so many half-elves are employed as Desians?"

"No," she muttered truthfully. "So why are you becoming so angry about this?"

He wanted to respond, _because of people with that way of thinking you and I are even in this mess_, but kept that to himself. "I knew half elves, good ones. Even one who wouldn't have become angry at your assumption." _Martel could never feel hatred to one who grew up so insular. _"I recognize you've only interacted with half elves as Desians, but you ought to at least consider that there aren't nearly enough Desian facilities for every half elf."

"That's a different prospect…why didn't I ever think of that?" Anna shook her head. He was acting on his friends' behalf. No wonder he was so cut off from her now. They must have been good friends…Kratos never showed emotion. Stupid Kratos.

She yawned loudly. "So can we stop? Noishe, uh…needs his nap." She grinned, hoping he'd let her sleep.

"Eat something while we travel. He can sleep in your arms. He is now." Anna pouted, and rose to her feet. She dug through the pack, but…well, there was nothing uncooked she wanted to eat. So she left the food and just followed him. Anna stopped at noon to set Noishe down. He was becoming heavier and heavier. Yawning for the millionth time, she trudged behind Kratos.

"We've passed this rock a million times," she tried wearily. "Are you lost?"

"I, am never lost," he countered. "We're almost at the destination I was headed for."

Anna exhaled heavily. "We better be, soldier."

"Why on earth do you keep calling me that?" Kratos questioned, slowing his pace so she could finally keep up.

She shrugged, holding his mantle to keep herself standing. Walking. Both. "Because you only have a few emotions, of which are never displayed unless I say something you don't want to hear. Because you fight mechanically and think mechanically. Was there anything else? Oh, yeah, your chivalry SUCKS." She nodded. "That's pretty much it."

He shook his head, a light smile threatening to break out. "Remind me not to ask you for your reason anymore," he muttered forcibly.

"Oh…kay…" Anna yawned. "You make a good support though. I guess no other soldier can do that."

"Humph. Get off me."

Anna pulled away and walked behind him once more. "Boring, isn't he Noishe?" The baby arishis yipped in reply. "Stickler, too huh? How about insensitive?" She stopped talking when Noishe nodded. "Erm, Kratos…"

"I don't want to hear it, Anna."

"No, I really, really think you do."

"Does it involve Desians?"

"It _could_, if you really wanted it to."

He only continued to walk stiffly, ending the conversation. He stopped at a cliff edge, and looked back to Anna. "You get ten minutes to restore your energy, and we're climbing down."

She peeked over and was overcome with a sickening nausea to the height. "This is where you were going?" she stipulated. "THIS is where you were gonna let me rest? We'll be KILLED going down there, Kratos. At the least, _I'll_ be killed." She sat down and folded her arms. "I'm not doing it. You can't make me."

"Yes, in fact, I can and I will."

"Can't."

"I'm not playing that game, Anna." He also sat down, dark eyes looking over the forest below. Past that forest lay an inlet that led to the ocean, and once getting to that inlet he'd be sure of the direction to Izoold.

"Sure you are."

"I am not."

"Yup."

He glared over. "I said I wasn't, and I won't."

Anna smirked. "Oh really?" She waited as he replayed the brief exchange of words over in his head. With a glare he turned away. _I get 'em everytime_, Anna thought triumphantly, before yawning and staring at the ground sleepily. She totally ignored Kratos as she closed her eyes and began to relax. Kratos looked back when, in a moment, she slumped over onto the ground.

"Stupid woman…" he muttered. "She couldn't have really been that exhausted with an exsphere…"

Noishe whined a bit, an unfriendly sound.

Kratos sent him a darker look. "The poison has worn away, arishis. There is no reason for her to be sleeping in such an open place. Then again…" He looked back down the mountain. "So long as she's unconscious, and you can't talk…we can get this over with which means I don't even have to take the human route down the cliff." Rearranging things, he picked Anna up after setting Noishe into the bag and glowing, fairy like wings spread from his back. Being quick they beat, and within a few minutes he had landed, without fault, on the soft mossy ground of the forest.

He set Anna down gently, and watched her sleep. When Noishe nudged her, she moved positions to hold the pup close to her, like he might be stolen away.

"Not unexpected…for a host body." He looked up to the sky as his wings disappeared. "Not unexpected…at all." He dropped her satchel of their supplies, and looked down in curiousity to a clink of metal. He was carrying their money so…

Searching through the items while she was still asleep, Kratos drew out a gold chain. Hanging from it was a locket. Unable to respect anymore of her little privacy, he cracked it open and stared at the picture inside. A woman that looked the striking image of what Anna did now, with a little girl in her arms. The child had to be three, maybe four years of age, with short, boyish hair and fierce eyes.

And from that he just knew that fire had existed in Anna since the day she was born.

She began to stir and began asking him questions in the middle of complaints and Kratos quickly closed the bag, putting the locket away in his own pocket. He wanted to study this a little more…that and he hadn't had the time to put it away in the bag.

"You're staring at me," Anna stated as Noishe yipped. Sure she had slept for only about…twenty minutes…but still.

"I apologize," Kratos returned. "It was surprisingly easy and quick to take you down that mountain unconscious."

"Are you sure I'm not dead?" Anna ran her hands over her body to make sure everything was there. Kratos watched as her hands glided over her curves, as she felt for injuries. She stared at him narrowly.

"If I walk through something and turn transparent I'll kill you."

"Humph." Kratos pushed the satchel toward her. "You've had your few hours sleep, let's get going." He was liar…telling her that her twenty minutes was a few hours wasn't going to kill either of them.

"Didn't feel like a few hours," Anna muttered as she straightened herself out and caught up to him. Yawning, she stretched. "So…When do we stop for camp?" she inquired with a cute grin.

Kratos glanced back and said nothing. "…later." Noishe growled, quite threatening for a puppy.

"Noishe!" Anna waved a finger at the arishis. "I know he's a big jerk but you don't have to go down to his level!"

Kratos stared ahead. "I beg your pardon?"

"Nothing!" Anna returned in a sing-song voice, tripping into him, knocking both flat. Awkwardly she crawled off of him, giggling. "I'm sorry!"

"Apologizing without meaning it is rather shallow of you, Anna." Kratos dusted himself off, extending his hand to help her to her feet.

She stuck out her tongue and folded her arms. "I'll be as shallow as I want when you're still walking with a stick up your ass." She looked back at him a minute later, when he was still standing there, only this time with his hands at his sides.

"Are we stopping now?"

Kratos let out the faintest smirk. A very weary smile. "It is 'later' is it not, Anna?"

"Yay! I can eat now!" Setting things down beside Noishe, she began to collect things for a fire. Enthused now that she had a break (and the fact that she had worn him down enough to get some rest!), Anna was more than willing to do what she could to make herself comfortable. By the time the sun set, Anna had some sort of odd smelling stew cooking.

Kratos ate quietly, wondering how something that smelled so weird could taste so…decent. Anna, after several helpings, yawned and stretched. "Okay. I ate, now I'm gonna sleep more. Don't let anything kill me. Night." Curling up into a ball she fell asleep, Noishe loyally at her side.

Kratos looked back sharply to the presence of mana behind him. Leaving his sword by the fire, he stood up and made his way to it. "Evening, Lord Yggdrasill," he greeted in the dark cover of the trees.

"Indeed." The blonde haired man glanced disdainfully over in the direction of Anna. "So?"

Kratos narrowed his eyes slightly and glanced back. "Not very much change. Her strength doesn't seem to change with the exsphere. The only change was when she was in danger, it flashed and she used my sword to defend herself."

The smile on Yggdrasill's face caused Kratos a bit on anxiety. "Well then you'll just have to put her in more danger won't you? I'll give you a year before handing her back over to Kvar. Most exspheres take some time to develop." He hesitated. "That is an arishis isn't it?"

"…yes."

"Bring it to Derris Kharlan when you're finished. Lets take a bit of a walk shall we?"

When the sound of footsteps faded, Anna's dark eyes looked up at the opposite direction. "That…son…of a bitch…" Getting up she took the supply bag and his sword belt. "I can't believe I trusted him…" Forcing back tears of frustration and humiliation, Anna took a strip of cloth to tie back her hair.

"Noishe. Let's go. Far, far away from Kratos and whoever he was speaking to." The pup nodded once again and took off, leading her away.

"Good bye, Kratos," she whispered bitterly. "I'll be seeing you in hell."

Unseen by the covering gauntlet, Anna's exsphere changed colours as she burst into tears of a betrayed heart.

End

Or is it? I guess we'll see in part two, won't we?


End file.
